SafeType Vertical Keyboard : Computer Hardware Buyers’ Glossary

The CurrCon Java Applet displays prices on this
web page converted with today’s exchange rates into your local international currency,
e.g. Euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars, British Pounds, Indian Rupees…
CurrCon requires an up-to-date browser
and Java version 1.8, preferably 1.8.0_131.
If you can’t see the prices in your local currency,
Troubleshoot. Use Firefox for best results.

SafeType makes a vertical keyboard. Unlike most eccentric keyboards, this one is
not intended to speed up your typing. In fact it will slow it down by 10% and increase your error rate by 2%. Its
sole reason for existence is to eliminate carpal tunnel strain. A traditional
keyboard, even an ergonomic one makes you twist your hand out of natural position in
three ways:

Pronation: twisting your forearms from the thumbs up position to the thumbs
together position.

Deviation: pulling your hands in closer together than shoulder width.

Extension: lowering your wrists and elevating your fingers.

With the SafeType you don’t do any of those three potentially
carpal-triggering things.

The keyboard has three pieces, a left and right vertical section each with half of
a traditional QWERTY keyboard on it and a flat conventionally-mounted keyboard in
the middle, with the navigation keys and the numeric keypad on it. See the photos
below. Those strange flaps that look like rear view mirrors on a motorcycle are
indeed mirrors, to let you see what you are doing if you hunt and peck. You can
retract them if you are a pure touch typist.

Keyboard Layout

Click on the small photo to see an enlargement. Some of the key legends are
reversed so they will appear correctly in the mirror.

spacing

Left
Vertical

Center
Flat

Right
Vertical

Advantages

The SafeType keyboard goes as far as you can go to prevent carpal tunnel
problems. If this keyboard (with DSK (Dvorak Standard Keyboard)
driver) does not solve your carpal problem, you will have to give up typing and
use Dragon Naturally Speaking
speech to text.

I have not seen one in the flesh, but from the photos, the SafeType looks
fairly sturdy compared with other vertical/slanted models I have seen.

Because the layout is so similar to traditional keyboards, you can adjust to it
quite quickly.

Cornell University study backs up its claims of low carpal stress.

Disadvantages

it will slow it down your typing by 10% and increase
your error rate by 2%.

There is no wrist rest. You have to hold your hands out hanging in mid air
without any support.

You have pull your left hand in and down to the middle keyboard every time you
want to hit a navigation or insert key. This is comparable to the motion you need
to take your right hand away to use a mouse.

The middle keyboard has a number of mysterious tiny buttons. I asked SafeType
what they were for. They declined to answer. Apparently to slake that curiosity, I
would have to buy a keyboard and read the manual.

It does not come in a DSK version, but, of course, you could use a
DSK keyboard
driver to handle that in software.